Railway spike-retainer.



M. THIMGAN; RAILWAY SPIKE RETAINER. APPLICATDON HLED MAR. 15, 1918.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

MATTHEW THIMG-AN, 0F MURDOCK, NEBRASKA.

RAILWAY SPIKE-RETAINER.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed March 15, 1918. Serial No. 222,648.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW THIMGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Murdock, in the county of Cass, State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Spike Retainers; and I do hereby declare the follow ing to be a full, clear, and exact description. of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in railway devices and particularly to rail fastening devices.

One object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved device for holding the spikes against working upwardly out of the tie.

Another object is to provide a novel and simple, as well as cheap device which can be used with the rails and spikes now in use without modifications thereto.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure lis a side elevation of a portion of the tie of a railway, the rail being shown in section, and the invention in side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the invention removed.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawing, 10 represents a portion of a railway tie, and 11 the rail disposed thereon. Disposed diagonally beneath the portion of the rail which is over the tie, is an elongated metal strip 12, which has its opposite ends out obliquely in parallel relation, resulting in tapered wings 12' and the end portions of the strips are formed with the rectangular openings 13 through which the shanks of the spikes 14 are passed when driven into the tie. These openings 13 have their diagonals at right angles to the side edges of the strip and coincident with the longitudinal median line thereof respectively, and the oblique edges of the strip lie parallel with a side of these openings. The portions of the strip, forming the wings 12 and lying outwardly of the openings are adapted to be bent upwardly and inwardly over the heads of the spikes, as clearly shown in the drawing, whereby the working upwardly of the said spikes is efiectively prevented. The metal, from which the strip 12 is formed, is of suflicient stiffness whereby the said upwardly and inwardly turned wings thereof will properly and firmly hold the spikes against upward movement from the tie.

What is claimed is:

A spike retainer formed from a single length of metal and including an elongated body having rectangular openings in the end portions thereof, the diagonals of said openings being respectively in lines at right angles to the longer side edges of the body and coincident with the longitudinal median line of the body, the ends of the body being cut ofi obliquely in parallel relation to each other and each in parallel relation to one of the sides of an opening, to form tapered wings adapted to be folded over the heads of spikes, the shanks of which are engaged through the openings.

' In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MATTHEW THIMGAN.

Copies of this patent may be. obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

